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I'm 80 next year. Still riding fixed. Started in 1946. Rode 64 during the winter and have just geared up to 68. If we get a summer this year I might go up to 72 but I doubt I will go any higher,

Neil

Tester.

I;m sorry but I haven't got my ration book but I do remember my National Registration Number. KSVU 120 5

Neil

The idea dates back to the old days when you would ride out to the track on your racing bike, the bars would be on top of the stem to give you a more upright position for riding on the road.Your racing wheels were carried on 'sprint carriers' alongside the front wheel. When you got to the track you would change the wheels, take the brake off and move the bars underneath the stem and further forward. Then you were ready for racing.

Neil

Colin

I used to gear up in the summer, but last summer never happened so the gear stayed the same.
I average about 15 mph now, I like to look around and enjoy the ride,
I am 78, years that is not inches.

Neil

IndraRipper

Knees are fine. I did have a touch of arthritus a couple of years ago, but I just dropped the gear to about 54 and rode through it.
I never ride brakeless, just a front brake.

Neil

IndraRipper.

Yes, I wouldn't ride anything else. I have a geared bike hanging in the garage but I never ride it. All the other bikes (14) are fixed.
I just got back a couple of hours ago after a nice wet 30 miles through the Surrey countryside.

Neil

Having started out in 1946 when I was 12 years old on a 64 inch gear (not gear inches) which was considered to be the ideal general purpose gear at the time, espesially for touring, I now find myself, after riding all the gear ratios you can think of, 66 years later, back, on the self same 64 inches, and still loving it by the way.

Neil

u9ge
I think that the logic behind gearing down in winter goes back to the 40s and 50s.
Nearly all racing was time trialling and nearly everyone rode fixed.
At the end of the season, after the hill climbs, most people had a lay off of about a month and then started training seriously in about January.
By this time you were out of condition and so it made sense to start off in a low gear and gradually increase as you got fitter. In fact quite a lot of the early time trials were restricted gear, 72 inches if I remember rightly.
Neil

Lileth.

I know it's not a Wisp but I have a Claude Butler Majestique which you can have for nothing. All you have to do is collect it or arrange for someone to collect it for you.
I live south of Dorking on the A24.
The bike is all original ie. unrestored. The finish is quite good and everthing works. It just wants a good home.

Neil.

I got my first 2 wheeled bike in 1940 when I was six. I didn't know anybody with a camera then, so I don't have any photos.
As regards after cycling, I haven't stopped yet, so there's no photo of me then neither.

Neil.

Malaysian.
They are all different finishes.
Red steel, Chrome steel.
Black, Silver, Yellow and Green alloy.
I had the money, I saw them, I liked them, I bought them.
Call it an old man's whim if you like, I enjoy riding them all.

Neil

vynalvillain.
A couple of days ago you said that a steel Langster is not a bad bike to start on.
I would like to add that it is not a bad bike to finish on either.
After 65 years of riding fixed, I now have 15 bikes in my garrage. 11 of them are fixed.
Six are Langsters, (4 alloy and 2 steel)
I also have a Steamroller, a Genesis Flyer, a Condor track bike, an old Dawes and an old Claud Butler.
By law of averages, if I ride all the bikes equally, which I try to do, then I ride the Langsters more than the others.
I only wish that 50 and 60 years ago, when I was riding seriously, that there had been bikes like the Langster around then.
Although there were some good bikes around then, the average bloke like myself couldn't afford them. I know that I could never think about buying a "new" bike, I had to make do with second hand and the people that had the good bikes, hung onto them.

I used to be a member when it was the Southern Veteran Cycle Club. In fact the last time I rode at Herne Hill was on one of Arthur Pearson's Penny Farthings. I was rebuilding my own at the time. Sadly I sold it a long time ago.

Neil

Usually a 68 or a 72 depending which bike I ride. I used to ride low in the winter 64 to 68 and then up the gear as summer progressed. I can't recall ever riding much higher than about 86. I do use a short stem nowadays which gives a more upright position.
Neil

Although I have been visiting this forum for the last couple of years I have just decided to register.
I have been riding fixed since just after the war when I used to borrow my brother's bike. I the late 40s I did some timetrialling and grass track racing, also some polo on grass. I joined the Navy in 1952 so stopped riding for a few years until I found my feet and then got me a bike and joined the RNCA (Royal Navy Cycling Association). Did lots of touring and time trials mostly on fixed. I came out of the Navy in '68 and joined a local club and carried on TTing. In 1974 I had an accident and as I was then 40 decided to pack up racing. I still carried on riding my bike though, in fact not long after I started at the Post Office as a Postman delivering letters on a bike. I retired when I was 65 over 11 years ago and now I go out cycling about 4 or 5 times a week, usually doing between 30 to 50 miles a day still on fixed.
I have about 14 bikes hanging up in my garage 10 of them fixed.
I live in Surrey just south of Dorking and spend my days cycling around the lane of Surrey and Sussex. The days when I am not out on my bike I spend walking round the Leith Hill area.
Neil.

I am now well into my 77th year and have been riding fixed for 65 of those years. Since I was 12 really when I used to borrow my brother's bike. I don't see any reason to stop now.

I started riding fixed wheel, or as they used to call it in Yorkshire: "Ont' cog", because there wasn't much else around in 1946.